More investing by foreigners likely

He said the figure was 45 percent higher than in 2003. Foreign direct investment in Mexico surged in the first quarter, boosted by Spanish bankBBVA's $4 billion acquisition of the outstanding shares in its Mexican unit.

VENEZUELA

Oil giant to miss deadline again

Petroleos de Venezuela
said it will miss a deadline for filing annual financial results with U.S. regulators for a second year.

The results for 2003, which were due Wednesday, will be submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in "the short term," Chief Financial Officer Jose Rojas said. "The verification process is slow."

The state-owned oil company last year missed two deadlines set by the SEC for the delivery of 2002 earnings. The company said a strike that disrupted its finance department was to blame.

IN OTHER NEWS

•Russian oil giant
Yukos
has offered to pay one-third of the $3.4 billion the government says is due in back taxes and fines. The oil company said the full amount could force it into bankruptcy.

•
Walt Disney Co.
, facing the reality that the
Euro Disney
theme parks east of Paris have not earned the money needed to pay their bills, has agreed to a restructuring that will cost the U.S. parent hundreds of millions of euros while also reducing its chances of getting cash out of the parks for years.
•The
Supreme Court of Canada
ruled Internet service providers do not have to pay royalties to composers and artists for music downloaded by Web customers. The court ruled 9-0 that companies providing Web access are merely "intermediaries" that are not bound by Canadian copyright legislation.
•
India's
economy continued to be one of the world's fastest growing, swelling 8.2 percent in the year that ended in March, the country's most rapid pace of growth in a decade and a half.